This week a lot of worry has been lifted. Firstly a call to the maternity screening department revealed my antibody test was a false positive. This means my body is not attacking the baby as we thought and my Anti-D injection should stop this from happening. Huge relief but quite distressing that we were given the wrong information in the first place.
The second piece of good news is that after what felt like a million meetings we finally got to see the top consultant at the hospital this week. I went prepared - Five A4 pages of hand written bullet points, print outs from the NHS Choices website and emails from the Birth Trauma Association. Turned out we did not need to worry. Within a few minutes of listening to my story the green form was out and my C section was approved. No more meetings. No more going over the trauma again and again. No more stress finding a parking space in the stupidly small car park. Although I would be lying if I said I was worry free. Now my C section is confirmed I do feel a sense of trepidation about the surgery. Even though it is the best option for us, it is still a major operation. I am being realistic that the recovery will be substantial but I have everything crossed that it won't have the same complications as Little E's birth.
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Another week another drama in Bump world. Good news my glucose levels are fine after the disgusting Lucozade test so no gestational diabetes for me. Bad news, whilst testing the glucose tolerance my bloods revealed a nasty shock - my negative blood group has developed antibodies.
Ironically I found out this information at the appointment to have the Anti-D injection to stop my body from triggering these pesky antibodies. So it is now too late and I am stuck with them forever. They don't seem to know how this has happened as i haven't suffered any trauma to the bump which could cause baby and my blood to mix but what it means to the baby is that my blood has been 'sensitised' so if the bump is a positive blood group (which statistically it is likely as Husband and Little E are) my blood can start to attack the baby's red blood cells thinking they are foreign bodies. The level at which this happens depends on the concentration of the antibodies in my blood and how the baby then copes with this attack. As this has happened past 12 weeks (my bloods were fine when they checked at my booking appointment) hopefully this baby will be lucky and only have a weak attack but any future babies I have will be attacked right from the start because the antibodies will always be present now. Even though we only planned on having two this makes me sad. So what happens now? Not entirely sure as the midwife was somewhat vague. I have an appointment with my consultant next week (luckily) who can give me more information and I assume test the concentration of the antibodies in my blood so we know how bad the problem is. But for now I am left freaking out and feeling rather upset that my body is fighting Bump and potentially causing damage rather than nurturing it. This week I am jumping through yet another hoop in my quest to have a C section delivery with Bump. Last time I gave birth 'naturally' in theatre with the help of a giant set of forceps. They call this assisted delivery but in my case the assistance led to over two years of recovery punctuated by procedures and pain and tears. Despite checking with two GP's that I would be able to have a C section if we tried for baby number 2, and despite this prolonged physical (not to mention mental) trauma, I don't qualify for a medical C section. Instead I am jumping through a series of hoops and bureaucracy to get an elective C section as if I have simply woken up one morning and decided I don't fancy pushing this time...
Not that it should matter. If I had woken up and decided I wanted a C section it is my right and the attitude of the hospital seems to mirror the experience I had three years ago with Little E; Your body, Our rules, our way. Today was a trip to the post-birth trauma councillor who was lovely but had to hear my story again from the top because on not one occasion have I seen the same person at the hospital. I feel like typing some bullet points and laminating them as a handout to speed up this process Also, if I have to listen to the risks of a C section one more time I may spontaneously combust. Is no-one listening to me? I completely understand it is major surgery and there are a number of risks to me and baby. I have had them explained numerous times now, but didn't I just spent the last half hour explaining my experience of the statistically less risky, 'natural' birth? We haven't even got onto the fact that Little E had to have six months of physio due to damage to her neck from the medieval torture device (forceps), so excuse me if I'm not on the vaginal birth cheer-leading squad. To add insult to injury my post-birth notes still have not made it from one hospital to the other despite the nine week time gap and apparently no-one in the NHS has ever heard of this space age technology called email. Husband is coming to the consultant appointment next week to stage a sit in until I am given a C section date. If anyone has a good slogan for a placard tweet me. N.B. I generally believe vaginal birth is the best option for the majority of women and I never would have considered an elective C section first time round. My delivery experience is unusual and the chances of it happening are slim, just like the majority of the C section risks. I don't believe a 'natural' birth would be sensible with the muscle damage and scar tissue I have from my first delivery which is why I am adamant a C section is the right delivery for me in this instance. The bump is growing! I was surprised to find that baby now measures about 35cm in length which I demonstrated to my work colleagues using a ruler... If I think about if for too long I get a bit freaked out that someone that big is curled inside me, kicking and hiccupping away. My colleague has been excited for weeks about feeling a baby kick for the first time and bump obliged yesterday with a small thud against her hand. It then proceeded to kick me so hard in an organ that I felt bruised all evening!
This week has been mainly been punctuated by indigestion. Baby bump has shifted up severely constricting my whole digestive system. Eating now means hours of discomfort as my squished organs try to manoeuvre around the alien who has invaded my body. I am hoping it all settles down soon as it is starting to disturb my sleep. My indigestion has been mirrored by my father in law who has been suffering in hospital with a bowel obstruction. So this week has been full of worry and huge relief that he is going to be ok. It has been a learning experience though and I have learnt a lot about abdominal surgery and the long term side effects it can cause including scar tissue adhesions which can cause all number of problems years down the line. It does make me think a bit more about the C section but in contrast to my experiences last time with scar tissue from forceps I think i'll take my chances with the abdomen. I should count myself lucky to have got over half way before this kicks in but I can announce that this week heartburn is officially here and it looks like it is staying. Experts believe pregnancy hormones relax the valve that separates your gullet from your stomach. This allows gastric acids to seep back up your gullet, causing a burning sensation from your breastbone up into your throat - Heartburn.
Last time round I suffered a bit earlier in my pregnancy. I immediate started living off chewable Gaviscon tablets, munching them like tic-tacs but no-one warned me of the side effects - basically I didn't go to the toilet for a week. So I am avoiding them entirely this time round. I have found that drinking milk can help calm it and staying sat upright rather than relaxing backwards on the sofa can help keep the burn at bay. Regular meals are also really important - if I go too long without eating something it gets really bad but munching on a cracker gives the acid something to work on and stops it almost immediately. Fizzy drinks and wine (I wish) are now completely off the menu as it just increases the acid. Sleeping is the only area I can't quite crack - Laying flat in bed brings on symptoms but propping myself up just gives me a crick neck in the morning so I am putting up with it at night for now. Oh well, only 15 weeks to go.... Just had my 24 week antenatal appointment where they discovered a trace of glucose in my urine. Whist I rationally know I have none of the markers for gestational diabetes (age, weight, family history etc) so it is probably just a random slightly elevated level, I am completely freaking out.
Now I have to endure a glucose tolerance test at 27 weeks. This involves drinking a pint of Lucozade two hours before a blood test. Which isn't so bad in itself but the myriad of baby related appointments I have coming up in the next three weeks is just not funny! From Anti D injection to whooping cough vaccination to birth counselling session to consultant appointments my calendar is revolving around the hospital and it is stressing me out. Gestational diabetes is added stress I could really do without so fingers crossed my pancreas is playing ball. This week in pregnancy land has been mainly punctuated by the oddest of dreams. Not only are they odd, the are unusually vivid and realistic. I consulted Dr Google who reliably informs me it is because my sleep patterns are being disturbed more often due to being more uncomfortable in bed. Basically I am not getting as much deep, dreamless sleep and am instead experiencing more REM sleep than usual. Because I am also waking up more often during the night this means I am remembering the dreams more than usua,l hence the sensation of unusually vivid dreams.
All this dreaming is exhausting work and some days I am waking up feeling like I haven't been asleep! Husband is also experiencing some bizarre dreams mainly involving him missing the birth by being stuck in the hospital and not being able to get to me. So some of my anxiety surrounding bump is rubbing off on him too! Last week my moan was about maternity tights so I thought I'd keep up the fashion theme by moaning about my other pregnancy nemesis: maternity jeans. Now this rant isn't about the jeans themselves, they are one of the best things about pregnancy - afterall they have elasticated waists - this is about maternity jeans shopping.
Exciting news! I have been feeling bump moving for about a month now but this evening was a particularly forceful kicking session and I had a funny feeling something may be feel-able on the surface. Enter Husband/Daddy to see if anything could be detected... After a few minutes laying very still barely breathing we have results of the experiment - one little kick and some tumbling motions were felt! Lovely to now be able to share Bump's movements with Husband - it won't be long before Bump is kicking him awake in the night too!
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Welcome!Artist, Baker and Blogger. Mum to my two beautiful, cheeky girls. Muddling my way through parenthood with equally cheeky Husband. Categories
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April 2023
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